14ymedio, Havana, June 22, 2024 — Two building collapses, in less than 24 hours, have shaken the province of Matanzas. One of these losses, which occurred in a central corner of the Colón municipality, took place around three in the afternoon this Saturday in the midst of the intense rains that hit western Cuba. The other collapse occurred this Friday night in the town of Alacranes, in the middle of a blackout. In neither of the cases has there been any loss of human life.
In a video filmed by the former political prisoner of the Black Spring, Iván Hernández Carrillo, images are seen of the upper part of a building in the main park of Colón that has collapsed. The roof, part of the walls and the balconies have given way under the weight of the downpour and the debris has been scattered all over the street in front of the building.
“That building was in danger of collapsing for a long time,” explains Hernández Carrillo. “The local authorities saw the situation in that place every day. Now they come and act worried but until yesterday they did not take care to prevent this from happening. Fortunately, there has been no loss of human life.”
Neighbors of the place tell 14ymedio that the building housed El Confite, an emblematic business of the municipality that experienced its moments of splendor in the 40s and 50s of the last century. The Colón Mayor’s Office was located on its upper floor. Confiscated from its owners after Fidel Castro came to power in January 1959, its large halls came to be managed by the State and, over time, suffered the deterioration of the infrastructure and the lack of renovations.
Right now the area of the collapse is surrounded by nearby residents who heard the roar caused by the fall of part of the buildin
